Wolf Creek

REVIEW
Three twentysomethings on a road trip have car trouble in the middle of the Australian Outback. Luckily (it would at first seem) for them, a local happens upon them and offers to tow the vehicle back to his place and fix it for them gratis. Turns out he's not the sweet eccentric he appears to be. Hailed by some horror fans as a terrific, no-holds-barred pastiche of '70s visceral horror (à la Texas Chainsaw and Last House on the Left), this is really more akin to other recent DIY, shot-on-video efforts like Blair Witch Project and Open Water, though not as good. Like the other films, Wolf Creek favors a slow build, and director McLean (and his solid three leads) creates an admirable feeling of dread and unease in this deliberately paced first half. Once the carnage kicks in, however, he drops the ball. While the first scene of violence has some voyeuristic power, the film slowly unravels as the characters we've come to like behave like utter morons. There are villains in Warner Bros cartoons with sharper survival instinct than these clowns. Add to that, the fact that the villain is less terrifying monster than obnoxious, mean-spirited jerk, and you've got a big buildup to nothing. Nicely shot, however.